Purification and characterization of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase beta from rat cerebellum

The existence of isoforms of calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaM-kinase kinase) in the rat brain was recently suggested by Northern and Western blot analyses and immunotitration [Okuno, S., Kitani, T., and Fujisawa, H. (1996) J. Biochem. 119, 1176-1181]. In the present study, CaM-kinase kinase beta, distinct from Cam-kinase kinase alpha which had been purified and cloned from rat cerebral cortex, was purified approximately 5,000-fold from rat cerebellum and its properties were examined. The purified CaM-kinase kinase beta gave a doublet at positions corresponding to molecular weights of 66,000 to 67,000 on SDS-PAGE, and neither protein band reacted with antibody against CaM-kinase kinase alpha. Both CaM-kinase kinase alpha and beta markedly activated both CaM-kinase I and IV, but CaM-kinase kinase beta activated CaM-kinase IV more strongly than did CaM-kinase kinase alpha. The maximal extents of the activation of CaM-kinase I and IV by CaM-kinase kinase beta were almost the same as those by CaM-kinase kinase alpha, suggesting that the two CaM-kinase kinases activated CaM-kinase I and IV by the same mechanisms.